Mitt's granite fortress under siege

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Mitt Romney, whose team has been working New Hampshire for nearly five years, has a coordinator in most of the state’s 234 towns. Newt Gingrich, who opened an office here less than a month ago, has a state director who’s never worked on a campaign before.

In the state that is supposed to be Romney’s stronghold, a bulwark designed to protect against a loss in Iowa and to produce a decisive win that propels him into South Carolina, Gingrich has cut into Romney’s consistent lead in the polls.

And he’s emerging as the first real threat to the firewall the former Massachusetts governor has built up in his adopted home state.

Gingrich officials concede that they’re still down, but the sizable lead that Romney has enjoyed in polls here for over a year has been narrowed since the former House speaker picked up the endorsement of the Union Leader and rocketed to the top of national surveys.

The question now looming over the Jan. 10 primary is whether Gingrich’s debate-driven buzz will eclipse the quadrennial conventional wisdom that only candidates who pay respect to New Hampshire’s demand for individual attention are rewarded.

“We’re going to find out this election whether a real on-the-ground organization can deliver anything more than a pizza these days,” said Pat Griffin, a veteran New Hampshire Republican strategist. “Insurgent movements are very dangerous here. You can get every county sheriff, but I have a feeling that [Gingrich’s rise] could be bigger than that.”

The former House speaker will have to overcome a formidable operation.

Just since June, Romney’s New Hampshire campaign has made 230,000 calls and knocked on 26,000 doors, according to spokesman Ryan William. Romney has also picked up endorsements from Republican figures such as former Gov. John Sununu, former Sen. Judd Gregg and Sen. Kelly Ayotte.

“Romney is in good shape here,” said the neutral New Hampshire Republican committeeman Steve Duprey, adding that it’s “not a lock” and the candidate and his team are “being smart” by running as if they know that.

But as Duprey, a McCain backer dating back to the 2000 primary knows, past establishment candidates with robust organizations have been upended in the snows of January here.